One of "those" mom's

I've decided that I want my kids to start dressing in matching outfits. No, they aren't twins, but I feel like I need to have small clones running around like the Van Trapp children, only instead of wearing old curtains, they are wearing swedish import clothing. Somehow or other when I see families with their kids all matching, I feel a sense of military uniformism or just cute adorableness. I know that's not a word. Whatever it is, I love to see kids that match. Now, I know Reece is the exception here in this picture, but you can't argue with a boy that wants to wear some sort of Buzz related garb every chance he gets. Plus it's better than Super Duck showing up out in public. We were at a birthday party yesterday up at Benny Russell playground, don't you just think if we have another baby whether it's a boy or girl, we should name it Benny, then I can sing in an annoying voice like Elton John, Benny, Benny, Benny, until someone shoots me. That thought was just thinking out loud, but seriously we were at a party and Adeline put away more food than the other 2 combined. She ate a whole piece of pizza, a sunflower cupcake, and an entire can of orange pop. Yes, I know I'm a bad mother, but at least there was no caffeine in it.

Future Wallendas?

Emma is quite the little acrobat when it comes to trying new stunts on the swingset. She may be too terrified to try riding her bike without training wheels, even padded up with extra jeans, a puffy coat and helmet. But, she is not too afraid to dangle upside down from her equipment and try things that might normally knock teeth out your head. And of course, Reece follows in her footsteps. And may even push the limits a little further b/c that boy knows no fear. Last summer he was diving by August after we put the pool in , and Emma was upset and asked how come Reece could dive and she couldn't. I said "It's because he doesn't know to be afraid and that he is a daredevil." So, enjoy the kids making themselves dizzy.....

The Jeopardy answer is : Who is Reece?

And the question is: Who goes to the beach in their pajamas and refuses to take them off even under extreme heat and massive embarrassment? It was 86 degrees here on Sunday and I thought it would be fun to take the kids to the quiet water beach. Reece did bring along his Buzz Lightyear bathing suit, but would rather not even give any prospective girlfriends, even the littlest hint of what these studly pajamas might be hiding. Hey, he's 3 and that's what 3 year olds do. Or is it? Adeline pulled a classic baby move, of eating a giant handful of sand. She then had drooly slobber peppered with sand dripping out of her mouth. Yum. Emma was digging herself to China, only the hole kept filling back in on her from the wave action. We went early enough that we were back in time for nap and just enough to have given us all a little color to our pasty complexions.

Mocha you'll be missed

Mocha you were our sweetest cat, the cat with the cross eyes and the crazy disposition. You were so loved and were such a big part of this family. Our countertops will never be the same and I will miss giving you half a bag of treats every morning to appease you. I am so glad I went to the shelter 11 years ago and happened upon one of the nicest cats around. Why is it so easy to open your heart to these furry friends and so hard to say goodbye. I wish I could harden my heart aganist loving these little guys so much, but in the end it breaks everytime just the same.

I think I will miss seeing how good she was with the kids, always head butting them on the counter, especially Reece who considered her "his" cat. She used to crawl into his bed and he would not be scared b/c she was there for him to stroke gently while he drifted off. When Emma was a toddler, Mocha would do the same thing. Emma is alright with the loss as she assured a sobbing mommy that grandma was happy to be petting her in heaven. March 1996- April 2008 Goodbye Mo Mo

Check out those Piggies

And by piggies I mean piggy tails. I know I'm doing another blog about Adeline, but hey she is the "baby" and she is probably being jipped somewhere else in her life. About this age, was when I could start putting Emma's hair into these adorable little puffs, and Adeline is the same. Of course, getting them in with the "ouchless" rubberbands was another story. On a side note, the Parrish's are getting hot feet to start the move into Pensacola. Yesterday Rick found a home less than a mile from Emma's school and now he is itching to put this one on the market and just get the deal done. With me driving 80 miles a day for the last 2 years, it is starting to get a little tiring, especially on Adeline. So, we'll keep you posted on what transpires. It is an older home though, so it would need some MAJOR improvements, the first being the country " Cracker Barrel" type wallpaper over 90% of the house, needs to go! Easier said than done though right! The one big hinge is going to be selling this house. There are soooo many military families moving this summer from our neighborhood, that the only thing that sets our home apart from the countless others is the pool. And yes that is a major perk, so you never know. For all we know Rick will lose his steam in a few days and you'll never hear of this again. ( by the way, Adeline is pointing at an airplane in the one picture)

Tu Tu Tuesday?

TU TU Too Much Trouble! This beautiful tu tu was made for Adeline by my good friend Becky and I wish the thing were big enough to fit me. I was so excited to put this on Princess Pixie face, but apparently being a fairy today wasn't her idea of fun. After finding the little wand that Emma was playing with yesterday, I figured Adeline was already half way there to princesshood. But, as soon as she saw that tu tu coming at her, she took off for the hills. Mom rassled her into it and this was the result. Two minutes of tu tu hell.

Super Ducky Strikes Again

Ice Cream in your underwear, what could be better? That's the way I eat mine. Don't forget the Parrish household can sometimes be a clothing optional place. Such as our pool in the summer or any other given moment when clothes are just too cumbersome and constricting, since we do live in Florida and are therefore closer to the equator. Even Adeline has gotten the hang of the ice cream cone thing. Out of the three kids, she was the one to completely finish hers. Granted she dropped it in the grass a handful of times and fell over a couple of times, but she persevered and conquered the cone. This weekend we are alone as daddy is in Biloxi on a mandatory Navy reserve weekend. Oooh sounds tough huh?

Nightly Ritual

Every night just about, after dinner, the Parrish's take their family walk. It started as a way for us to break up the evening, when the post-dinner madness begins. We dread the winter months when the shortened days keep us indoors, instead of taking our walks. During those LONG months, the kids go bonkers, jumping on the furniture and acting like caged animals until bed. So, when spring comes, so do the walks begin again. Tonight's walk had a purpose though. On our way home from Girl Scouts today, Emma and I saw 2 large dead snakes in the road, so we figured after dinner we'd take the whole family and check them out. Now, aren't you glad that I didn't include pictures of that? When we got to the bigger of the 2 snakes, it wasn't flattened yet by car tires. Well, I didn't see there were flies on it and when we approached the snake and something moved, I screamed and grabbed Emma and Reece and Adeline just froze. It really looked like the thing was about to strike. Darn flies. So, after getting our good look at the snakes, we headed to our favorite spot to play. The big tree that has 2 signs on it saying Keep Off, that we ignore and the kids climb up into the branches. Its on the old folks communities property and they are grouchy old curmudgeons anyhow, and I say, why should they get to use our road to drive down, if we can't climb in their trees? So we do.

Little Mommy

This is Adeline's Magnetic Molly that she bought while in Seattle visiting her baby cousin Marjorie. In that one week of watching how a baby is taken care of, she picked up all the skills necessary to be a mommy herself. She pats Molly on the back, gives her the little magnetic binky attached to her neck and carries her around right side up, giving her hugs. It just warms my heart to see her babying this little baby and I couldn't resist sharing. She also makes cooing noises at her.

Destination Destin

I have to say that it never gets old living next to one of the prettiest beaches around.

During our spring break, our good friends the Pecks were visiting Destin, so we headed down to see them for the afternoon. Even though it was cool and breezy, the kids managed to get in the ocean (briefly). And then submerged in the hot tub. Emma loves these times to see her best friend Grace. There's no going in the water this week though, as we saw that the purple flag is flying due to Portugese man of Wars in the area. I love the story of when our nieces Angela and Bethany were visiting 3 summers ago. Angela who was around 4 at the time heard us discussing the addition of the purple flag to the line up at the beach. Red indicates No swimming, Yellow cautionary and green, all clear. Well, the new purple flag is for dangerous marine life, such as sharks or jellyfish. As, we crested the hill on our way to the beach, I teasingly said " Oh look, it's purple flag." Then I said " just kidding." Well about an hour later, while sunning myself, all the others were down near the water, Angela slowly came up to my side and said " You know Aunt Jackie teasing is just like lying." " So you lied about it being a purple flag." Wow I was called out by a 4 year old with a good conscience. I don't know why I'll always remember that. It's like she waited till we were alone to chastise me. I love you Angela.